Habib Abdul of Newark waits for a bus at Broad and Market streets on a chilly morning in the city in this 2009 file photo.Matt Rainey/The Star-Ledger

Temperatures will plunge into the mid-20s and single-digits in parts of New Jersey this week.

Today, high westerly winds between 30 to 40 mph will hit Morris, Warren and Sussex counties — with gusts up to 45 mph — until 4 p.m., meteorologist Kristin Kline of the National Weather Service's office in Mount Holly said.

On Monday, a dusting of snow is forecast for the afternoon and evening in Northern New Jersey, with towns north of Route 80 receiving between a half-inch to 1.5 inches of light snow accumulation, Kline said.

Central and southern Jersey will see an afternoon mix of rain and snow turn into light snow showers that evening.

"There could be a dusting or some slush in those areas with it being sort of a mixture. We're not really expecting much accumulation," she said.

Temperatures around the state will reach the mid-30s around the state and lows will drop to the mid-20s.

Highs mid-week will drop significantly, with a bone-chilling arctic air mass blasting through the state, according to Kline.

"The two coldest days are going to be Tuesday and Wednesday when we pretty much have highs in the mid-20s," she said.

Though the lows won't break any records, Tuesday night will be the coldest this week with temperatures of 10 to 15 degrees around the state and parts of northern Sussex County dropping to 8 or 9 degrees in high terrain areas, Kline said.

Record lows for this time of year are below zero degrees, she said.

From Wednesday to Thursday, temperatures will begin to moderate with highs returning back to the upper 20s and low 30s however a low pressure system later this week may bring a chance of rain or snow for the weekend.